Alameda: Man seeks release in murder of trick-or-treater on Halloween 2007

Quochuy “Tony” Tran was 16 when he shot and killed 15-year-old Ichinkhorloo “Iko” Bayarsaikhan while he and friends were out robbing trick or treaters in Halloween 2007.

OAKLAND — An Oakland man who was 16 when he was arrested in the murder of a 15-year-old trick-or-treater is seeking release from prison, arguing that his young age and rehabilitation in prison warrant an early termination of his sentence of 50 years to life behind bars.

Quochuy “Tony” Tran, 32, was convicted in 2010 of murdering 15-year-old Ichinkhorloo “Iko” Bayarsaikhan at an Alameda park. The shooting occurred on Halloween 2007, while Tran and a group of friends were attempting to rob trick-or-treaters with a .22 caliber rifle. He was given 25 years to life for the murder conviction and additional 25 years for an enhancement of personally shooting Bayarsaikhan, court records show.

In a legal motion filed Oct. 23, Tran’s deputy public defender cited not just Tran’s own apology letter and participation in dozens of rehabilitative programs, but the words of an appellate court justice and four correctional officers. An appellate court justice who also voted to uphold Tran’s murder conviction added that “this is one of the relatively rare cases in which the claim that punishment is so excessive as to be cruel and unusual has merit.” The officers’ support letters say Tran has been “continuously employed and involved in schooling” despite living on a Level IV yard in California State Prison, Sacramento.

Tran’s lengthy apology letter says he underwent a transformation in prison from a “selfish” youth to learning to “correct” his “criminal thinking.” He added that he hopes to, “make amends to my victim’s family, my family, and to all those who I have ever hurted (sic).” Tran also described his background — his family came to the United States from Vietnam when Tran was 10. Six years later, when he was arrested and charged with murder, he was attending Oakland High School with minimal parental supervision and struggling to learn English as a second language, he wrote.

“Reminiscing about my childhood, I came to a conclusion that my false belief, anger, loneliness, hatred and my shortcut through life is the starting point which led me to prison,” he wrote.

At Tran’s 2010 trial, his attorney argued that prosecutors had failed to prove Tran actually fired the shot that killed Bayarsaikhan. Authorities say he and a group of friends had attempted to rob several trick-or-treaters when they came upon Bayarsaikhan and a group of friends in Washington Park. One of Tran’s friends brandished the rifle and fired shots into the air to scare them into compliance.

After that, prosecutors say Tran took the rifle from his friend, told the group that it wasn’t a cap gun and shot Bayarsaikhan in the chest. She died at Highland Hospital later that night.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has not yet responded to Tran’s petition for relief, though DA Pamela Price campaigned against charging any juveniles as adults and has moved to release other men who were convicted of murder in their teens. For now, Tran remains in New Folsom prison.